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Froedtert Hospital is one of two Wisconsin hospitals that filed medical debt lawsuits against dozens of patients during the coronavirus pandemic that are now dismissing some of those suits. Here, Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee is seen on Nov. 1, 2019. Gretchen Brown/WPR

Wisconsin Hospitals Sued Patients During Public Health Emergency, And 2 Are Now Dismissing Some Suits

Two Wisconsin hospitals that filed medical debt lawsuits against dozens of patients during the coronavirus pandemic are dismissing some of those lawsuits.

A Wisconsin Watch/WPR analysis published Wednesday found Wisconsin hospitals sued at least 104 patients over medical debt in small claims court since March 12, when Gov. Tony Evers declared a public health emergency to fight the virus. Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital Inc. in Milwaukee filed 46 of those cases.

A Froedtert spokesperson told Wisconsin Watch and WPR on Tuesday that Froedtert had "suspended filing small claims suits" as of March 18 in response to COVID-19. But online court records at the time showed 18 small claims suits filed on the hospital’s behalf since then, including 15 filed Tuesday.

By Friday morning, all 18 of those cases were dismissed. The spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Blanche Jordan. Photo courtesy of Blanche Jordan

Among the lawsuits still open as of Monday: an effort to collect $7,500 from Blanche Jordan, a 39-year-old caregiver at an assisted living center outside of Milwaukee. WPR and Wisconsin Watch previously reported Jordan, a breast cancer survivor with a compromised immune system, was served court papers at her duplex March 29, days into Evers’ "safer-at-home" order that restricted "non-essential" business operations. Froedtert filed that lawsuit March 17, and Jordan is scheduled to appear in court May 28.

The Wisconsin Watch/WPR analysis showed Bellin Health filed nine lawsuits after March 18, but Dietsche called the filings unintentional. Bellin Health’s debt collection system had already begun processing the actions before March 18, and the cases "weren’t pulled back," he said.

Jim Dietsche. Photo courtesy of Bellin Health

"That was an error, and we apologize for that," Dietsche said in an interview, adding that the nine cases "have been dismissed and those communications have been sent."

Dietsche said he did not know when the health system discovered the mistake.

The Milwaukee Small Claims Commissioner Court dismissed one of those cases Thursday, records show. Eight other Bellin Health cases filed after March 18 remained "open" as of Monday morning, according to online records.

Dietsche said Bellin Health was pausing, but not dismissing, cases filed before March 18. He said he did not know how long the pause would last.

"This is a very intense situation, and we’re trying to keep our patients and community in mind," he said.

The legal moves by Froedtert and Bellin Health come as other health systems vow to pause debt collection during the coronavirus pandemic. Spokespeople from UW Health, Marshfield Clinic, Gundersen Health System, Aspirus Grand View Health System and Froedtert South all told WPR and Wisconsin Watch last week they were pausing small claims suits.

Wisconsin Watch and WPR found Dean Health Systems Inc., which is owned by SSM Health, filed 43 small claims suits against patients after Gov. Tony Evers declared a public health emergency on March 12, 2020. Here, the SSM Health Outpatient Center is seen in Madison, Wis., on March 5, 2020. Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Watch

SSM Health, which owns hospitals and clinics across Wisconsin, is "in the process of evaluating our policies," spokesperson Kim Sveum said in an email. "SSM Health is first and foremost attending to the needs of our patients and community in response to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic."

After the analysis published Wednesday, Wisconsin Watch and WPR found Dean Health Systems Inc., which is owned by SSM, filed 43 small claims suits against patients after Evers declared a public health emergency.

Sveum noted that most were filed before Evers closed schools and issued his March 24 safer-at-home order. SSM Health is "working to pause many cases," Sveum said, but she did not offer specific details. As of Monday morning, 37 of the 43 cases remained "open," according to online court records. In five lawsuits filed March 16, courts granted a request by the health system’s attorney to delay proceedings until June due to the pandemic.

Evers signed an emergency order temporarily banning evictions and foreclosures on March 27. When asked on a press call Friday whether Evers would consider taking similar actions on medical debt collection, Ryan Nilsestuen, his chief legal counsel, said Evers’ office was looking into it.

"There is a fairly significant difference between debt collection and an eviction ban," Nilsestuen said. Evicting somebody from their home "runs completely contrary" to public health guidelines to stay at home, Nilsestuen added. Medical debt collection is “significantly different."

This story comes from a partnership of Wisconsin Watch and Wisconsin Public Radio. Bram Sable-Smith is WPR’s Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Fellow embedded in the newsroom of Wisconsin Watch (wisconsinwatch.org), which collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

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